March 25th was designated by Congress as a day of recognition and gratitude for those who have demonstrated extraordinary heroism and courage. Today marks one hundred and sixty two years since the very first medal of honor was ever awarded to Jacob Wilson Parrott, a private from the 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry’s Company K.

We are celebrating the day by thinking back on some of the incredible heroes we covered in our last season. We will continue to tell those stories in our second season coming up in May.

In the meantime, we also want to hear from you! Send us your personal story of courage, or highlight someone else’s bravery.

You might hear your stories on future episodes of Medal of Honor, or see them on our social channels. Email us at medalofhonor@pushkin.fm. We’ll see you all back here in May.

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Malcolm chats with Meredith Rollins, the writer behind the series, to talk about what they both learned from the Medal of Honor recipients featured this season. They also share moments that didn’t make the cut, what surprised them, what made them cry– and the surprising influence of Medal of Honor moms.

If you have questions or comments you would like Meredith to answer, you can email her at meredith.rollins@pushkin.fm or send us a message on any of our social media accounts @pushkinpods.

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John Chapman is the first member of the Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor since Vietnam. John’s story takes us to a freezing, snowy mountain range in Afghanistan on March 4th, 2002, where he deployed with SEAL Team 6 during Operation Anaconda. His bravery in the pre-dawn hours that day teaches us something vital about heroism: It means being willing to risk everything… even if no one can see you do it.

Special thanks to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the Defense Visual Information Distributions Service.

The appearance of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

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